In what kind of bizarro alternate reality does Donald Trump end up as the only man brave enough to speak truth to power? While all the republican politicians and the alleged right-wing pundits groveled and cowered away from the charges of racism and Nazism being hurled by the Fake News, Donald Trump stood there and dared to proclaim that both sides of the riot at Charlottesville came prepared to spill blood. This he did clearly, strenuously and repeatedly. He didn’t cower or equivocate or back-pedal. He stood his ground. He used effective logic to show how today’s statue of Robert E Lee would be tomorrow’s Washington Monument or Jefferson Memorial. Watching him fight the good fight should fill the rest of the right wing with shame and feelings of inadequacy. How is it possible that a real estate builder whose biggest claim to fame was a tv show that showed him firing make believe employees is basically the only republican in the country with an intact backbone? How did we get here?

I’ll confess I don’t know the answer. And I don’t know if Trump can continue to stand up to every power structure in the whole world attacking from every angle. But I will tell you that as long as he continues to show the courage and stamina to hold his ground, I’ll support him 100%. If he needs me to send letters to my congress critters I’ll do it. If he wants to draft me into some kind of geriatric right-wing literary goon squad whose job it is to send nasty letters to Rosie O’Donnell and Nancy Pelosi, I’ll volunteer. If he needs cash for his defense fund once he’s retired from the White House I’ll send him cash. Hell, if he needs a getaway car to make a break for the border I’ll drive it. The man delivers. He’s fearless and he’s obviously talented. Damn, I wish he’d been president during 9-11. We wouldn’t be in the mess we are in now.

What Trump has demonstrated is that if you stand up to the Press and push back you look good and they look stupid and dishonest. If you speak plainly and avoid the weasel words you can get people to understand that the Left isn’t the good guys. Sometimes they are the villains and we are the good guys, or at least we’re the lesser of two evils.

I’ve said it before jokingly but now I’m saying it completely seriously. Trump is the best American President in my lifetime. And that includes Reagan. Reagan was a great president and a good man. But Trump has been plopped down in the greatest meltdown in American history and every day he’s wrestling with the most dysfunctional array of fake newscasters, politicians, special interest groups and corporate thugs ever assembled. And despite that he’s getting done what can be done through the power of the executive branch. And even there he’s being harassed and sabotaged by deep state bureaucrats and operatives at every turn. Reading the news, I wonder how long a man his age can stand up to the pounding. But I’ll offer up a fervent prayer that he does survive.

So here’s to you President Trump. As I’ve said before, you’re a crazy son of a bitch. But you’re our crazy son of a bitch and the only one who just may save this country from collectivist oblivion.

Anyone who has watched TV around Christmas has probably seen a Frank Capra movie because every year they play “It’s a Wonderful Life” non-stop for a week straight. And that’s a really good Capra film. But Capra made a bunch of good films in his day and some of them are among my favorites. And my all-time favorite is “It Happened One Night.” Filmed in 1934, it stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in a screwball comedy that wants us to believe that an heiress on the run from her father would meet up accidentally on a bus with a reporter who needs her runaway story to salvage his newspaper career. Their trek from Florida to New York begins with each despising the other and ends up, of course, with them falling in love. But of course, the course of true love is never smooth and never was that truer than with this goofy tale. The key to the success of this movie, for me, is the chemistry between Gable and Colbert. He is the seemingly self-confident man of the world. He knows it all and claims to be able to write a book about every skill from how to correctly dunk a doughnut, to how to thumb a ride on the highway. She starts out as the arrogant little rich girl. Pretending to need no one’s help and always in charge. Once they broker a deal to travel together to their mutual interests, they proceed to heckle each other and bicker until they pretty convincingly fall in love. My wife and I have always thought of this as a pretty much perfect date movie. It has a little something for both sexes. Gable gets to strut and brag in his king of the jungle act and Colbert is the sarcastic little woman. In one of my favorite scenes Gable is demonstrating his various “foolproof” methods of thumbing a ride. After a string of failures, he dejectedly admits maybe he shouldn’t write that book after all. Colbert says she’ll get a ride and won’t even have to use her thumb at all. Of course, she walks over to the rod, lifts her skirt above her knee and the first passing car slams on the brakes and the emergency brake too. An amused Colbert says to the glum Gable that she had just answered an age-old riddle. He asks what and she replies “that the limb is mightier than the thumb.” And he viciously replies “well why didn’t you just take off all your clothes and you could have gotten a hundred rides?” to which she serenely replies “when we need a hundred rides I will.”

As I mentioned earlier, the couple don’t smoothly move from reluctant partners to sweethearts without obstacles and by the last reel misunderstanding and anger almost conspire to destroy this match made on a Greyhound Bus. But of course, happily ever after is bound to be in a Capra film so the fear of tragedy is never serious.

The movie is full of little details of life in depression era America and the vignettes with the denizens of the bus and other locales add charm to the story. Capra filled his depression era movies with scenes of the common people displaying compassion and camaraderie in the face of adversity. The scene where the bus riders amuse themselves with a relatively untalented singing performance is amusing and appealing if a little contrived.

If you’ve never seen the movie, I unreservedly recommend it. If you don’t like it then I recommend you do not read any more of my reviews. Our points of view on film would be just too far out of synch to allow any value to you. And may God have mercy on your poor shriveled soul.

PT – I see a lot of headlines saying my popularity is in the 30s. Is that true?

SB – Probably more like low 40s but it has dropped a little since the Obamacare debacle. I’d say there’s nothing to worry about. The Gorsuch approval will give you a nice bump and the Rice Spying reveal should also get you some points.

PT – Well, I guess that’s all true but I want to get things moving again. We need to produce some excitement around here. People want to see action.

SB – Okay, do you have anything particular in mind?

PT – Yes, I do. You know how we have been touting all these jobs that Ford and Carrier and Walmart are opening up? Well, it’s time to roll out a program to get existing small businesses to expand. We need to put something in place to bust us out of the doldrums.

SB – Well, we’re already working on fixing the tax code to eliminate the problems slowing down small business growth.

PT – That’s slow motion progress. I need an explosion of growth. We need something to start a fire. What about a tax holiday for any business with sales less than hundred million dollars? Let’s say for the next four years.

SB – That should make you real popular around the next election.

PT – Yeah sure, but more important, it will get things moving. It’ll get people working. And it’ll benefit regular people instead of those global corporations that don’t actually like this country. Any time I can give those bums a thumb in the eye I will.

SB – Hmm. That’s pretty good. But what happens when this holiday ends? Won’t they shed those jobs?

PT – Not likely. They’ll be making money and they will want to make more. Plus by then you slow pokes will have jiggered the tax code to make business more fair to the little guys right?

SB – Absolutely Mr. President.. Mike Pence is working with Ryan and McConnell to push it through.

PT – Oh Good Lord! We better get this tax holiday pushed through as soon as possible. The way those guys get things done, my job rating will be a negative number before they start the reconciliation.

SB – I’ll put a team together to get it going. Wouldn’t it be a good idea if you were the salesman behind this idea? You can be quite persuasive.

PT – Sure I’ll start the ball rolling but my idea is that we find about a hundred small companies that are ready to expand if the right business climate existed. We showcase these American businesses and point to the areas around them that would benefit from these new jobs. If you can find stuff in the Rust Belt and the inner cities, so much the better.

SB – That’s pretty good.

PT – Yeah well we’ve got an advantage we aren’t from DC so we still know where money actually comes from. And I don’t mean the Treasury.

Interesting week. After the Obamacare train wreck, the Trump Administration seems to be moving along on all its initiatives. Trump put out an executive order dismantling the Obama war on coal and fossil fuels. The EPA reiterated that climate change policy is no longer being pursued. Senate Majority Leader McConnell has said that a vote on Gorsuch will happen by April 10th.

The Gorsuch vote should be informative. Senate Minority Leader Chuck (The Schmuck) Schumer has declared that he will force a filibuster. But there are a number of senators in red states up for re-election in 2018. Several of them have already declared that they will not block cloture. In addition, some dem strategists have stated that forcing the republicans to use the “nuclear option” (eliminating the filibuster for supreme court approvals) at this point will make it easier for the republicans to get the next SCOTUS appointee in when it will be a true change in the status quo. If either a democratic appointee or Justice Kennedy is the next justice to be replaced with a truly conservative choice it will fundamentally change the complexion of the court. So it’s even possible that Schumer knows that the filibuster won’t happen and he’s just posturing.

The North Carolina legislature predictably caved on fake women using the lady’s room. Interestingly, Texas seems to have a little more backbone when it comes to standing up to corporate pressure tactics. We’ll have to see where the country moves on these battles now that Obama’s not there to use strong arm tactics for the liberal agenda.

Jeff Sessions said that convictions will be necessary to deal with the leaks coming out of the intelligence agencies. And his Justice Department is going after sanctuary cities, threatening to cut off law enforcement funds to cities that refuse to cooperate with ICE agents taking illegals into custody after they’ve been arrested for other crimes. And once again Texas takes a conservative initiative. Governor Abbott is introducing legislation holding Texas sheriffs accountable if they cooperate with Sanctuary City efforts to shield illegals from ICE agents. Pretty smart.

Once Gorsuch is seated, I expect the Supreme Court will be asked to rule on the bogus lower court interference with President Trump’s immigration executive orders. Vice President Pence voted to break a tie to approve a bill to allow states to defund Planned Parenthood if they choose. And finally, bids are being requested for contracts to build the border wall. Some Mexican companies have been branded traitors for their interest in the contracts.

So, all in all Trump and company have been fairly busy after their “crushing defeat” last week. I want to once again go on the record to state unequivocally that I am still not tired of winning. In fact, I think I am now officially addicted to winning. So much so, that I need my fix more often and in bigger doses. I hereby put President Trump on notice that he’s gonna havta up my dosage. Speed up the winning treadmill. That’s an order.

When Neil Gorsuch heads up to the Senate this week it’ll be interesting to see if his only enemies will be Democrats. Chuck Schumer has promised that he will force the Republicans to go nuclear. What he is saying is that he will not release the Democratic senators in red states to vote against a filibuster. The filibuster would prevent the nomination from being brought to the full senate for a simple majority vote. This is a tricky situation. There are seven Democrats up for re-election in 2018 who are in states that voted for Trump. If all of those voted against the filibuster and the vice president threw in his vote that would be sixty. But realistically it doesn’t seem likely that all seven would cave. So if the Democrats can let a few of the most vulnerable vote for cloture it still allows few of the more secure senators to vote against.

This leads to the nuclear option. The Dems under Harry Reed eliminated the filibuster for every confirmation approval type but the Supreme Court justices. This occurred because the republicans effectively blocked Obama’s other court selections. Schumer at the time was hesitant about the decision. Now he is shown prescient. Trump has the potential of appointing another two (and possibly more) SCOTUS picks during his tenure. And eliminating the filibuster would make the appointments under the current congressional make-up almost routine.

Great! What’s not to love? Well, not so fast. If I were to guess, John McCain and Lindsey Graham would be the usual suspects in any revolt in the ranks. I can just imagine high flowery prose defending the sanctity of the filibuster as a sacred check and balance against the tyranny of the majority. Blah, blah, blah.

Okay, how does it end up? My guess, Trump tells McConnell to promise McCain and Graham either some senate perks or some pork for their states and they find a way to vote for the change. Then the same kabuki theater gets repeated during the actual approval when some other senators discover they have perks or pork that need to be addressed. Long story short, Vice President Pence comes over to the Senate and Gorsuch gets approved 51 – 47.

You can say that eliminating the filibuster is a dangerous play. In four years President Warren will be nominating Justice Obama for the bench and we’ll be powerless to block that appointment. To that I say, whatever.

You only get to worry about the bullet you dodge today. If you die today, writing on your tombstone that your bullet proof vest is on order would sound pretty pathetic. So the play is sound. Get Gorsuch in. Get Kennedy to resign and replace him with Tomás de Torquemada as soon as is humanly possible. And add another conservative jurist as soon as superhumanly possible. So much damage has already been done that it will take eight years of a Trump administration just to get us back to the baseline of where we were under John Kennedy.

So gentlemen of the Senate, get off your asses and get it done. I was promised a (sort of) conservative Supreme Court by Easter. But I’m getting impatient. Let’s shoot for Palm Sunday.

I ran across this tonight, “Presidential Executive Order on a Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch.”
Wow.
If you love America how can you not love this guy? You’ve gotta read this.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/13/presidential-executive-order-comprehensive-plan-reorganizing-executive

It’s remarkable. The fact that we didn’t have all the Presidents that weren’t generals prove that they can run a business just shows how dangerous it is to let lawyers anywhere near your money. We’ve been cheated all these years. This is the kind of thinking that has been so lacking since,…, since forever.
Drain the swamp, then grow something useful there. It’s like a metaphor for the stupidity where the EPA says you can’t build a garden shed on your property because in the winter the snow forms a puddle there and there might be a salamander living in it that has 28 spots instead of the 26 spots that are found on the other salamanders across the road in a different puddle.
It’s like God finally said, “I can’t let these poor people suffer under these merciless cretins anymore. I’ll send the unlikeliest leader imaginable. He’ll be vulgar and vain and selfish and profane. And he’ll be the perfect foil for these evil men because he’s seen how they work and he knows how to beat them.
If he gets half of what he’s trying to do done, not only should we put him on Mount Rushmore and not only should we let his goofy hair flap over onto Teddy Roosevelt but we should let the Trump Corp. get the contract to build it.
It says in the executive order that the public can make recommendations. So, let’s see. How about merging NPR with the Coast Guard. I’d send the whole evening news team to a light house on Gooney Bird Island in the South Pacific and let them do something they’re qualified for, scraping guano off the light. And how about putting NOAA back in charge of predicting weather and out of the climate alarmist business? And what about letting the military do their job, killing our enemies, instead of convincing 98 pound girls that they’re actually Navy Seals or ninjas or whatever their latest fantasy is.
Of cours there is a downside. The unemployment rate will go up sharply. And most of these bureaucrats really have no marketable skills. What a shame. Well, dem’s duh breaks. Funny how it wasn’t important when it was factory workers in Pittsburgh. Hey, those people actually voted this time. Who’da thunk it?
Well, I must go to bed soon. I’m certain Saint Nick must be close by cause if this ain’t Christmas then I must be dreaming. And if I’m dreaming please don’t wake me up.
But in parting I just want to say that no president in my lifetime (and I’m counting Reagan in this) has opened my eyes to all the dysfunction and actual evil that exists in our so-called democratic institutions and the press. And no other president has shown the energy and guts needed to topple the towers of the unelected satraps who feed off our daily bread and give us nothing but pain in return.

Drain the damn swamp and pave the son of a bitch over so they can’t come back.

So, for months I’ve been observing, thinking and writing about our new president. He’s the biggest and really, the only story there is. He bestrides the modern world like a colossus. Every day he confronts his enemies and whenever they attack him he hits back with remarkable instinct. When the press uses their megaphone to establish a lie he turns it back on them in a tweet that catches them flat-footed. The man is a one-man media machine that makes the news and covers it all at once.
Whether he will conquer the forces arrayed against him or be defeated is perhaps the single most important question in America since the outcome of the Civil War. That sounds like an insane thesis but I think it’s completely true. The direction of American life has been deflected by Marxism since the 1930s. Every institution and group has been attacked from without and infiltrated from within to such an extent that America has become almost unrecognizable. It has finally reached a state where only a few small steps will make reversing the trend virtually impossible. But along comes this crazy man. He seems like a clown and a lout. He brags and struts and rains insults down on the most important politicians and bureaucrats like he and they were fifth graders in a digital school yard. And it seems impossible because the American Public has never put up with this sort of behavior (from a republican anyway). But they do! In fact, the more outrageous the behavior, the more popular he becomes. And the story progressed and what everybody realized (even if some wouldn’t admit it) was that he was tolerated because he was the only one willing to admit the truth and agree to solve the problems that most people really cared about. He talked about illegal immigration, crime and attacks against free speech and gun rights and the exportation of all American jobs to China and Mexico. So they choose him against !JEB! and Marco and Ted and Kasich and everybody else and they even come out in blue states like PA and MI. And they beat the Clintons and make him president.
And now against all odds he’s keeping his word. And this has stirred up the press and the democrats and the Obama and Bush bureaucrats and they’re gunning for him with every smear and dirty trick imaginable. So far, he’s been able to fight them to at least a draw and maybe even a little better. But the pressure is growing and the press is getting even more outrageous. And never forget how weak and untrustworthy the republican congress really is. If they decide that Trump is weakened they’ll drop him like a hot potato. So what can you do? Be ready to show your support with messages to your congressmen and senators. Send letters to the editors of your local newspaper. Voice your opinion and support Trump in any way you can. He’s risking everything he’s got for you, because, let’s face it, if he goes down they’re going to destroy him every way they can. The least you can do is show support. Show some spunk. If America was a little more Trumpified maybe the lefties wouldn’t be as bold as they are now. Maybe if ten million of us marched on Washington we could make an impression. But just realize that trying to get along with the left is not a solution. It’s the reason for this problem we’re already in.
Which way will it go? Who knows. But the important thing to remember is that it can be done. Never accept another McCain or Romney or Bush for your representative. If it’s a weak loser you might as well elect a real communist. You’ll get the same result without the confusion and disappointment. And one other thing. If Trump loses, the time will come soon when you’ll either have to fight for your rights or admit you’re a slave. And if you choose the latter that’ll be the last thing you’ll ever get to choose.

A week or two ago I lamented the demise of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. I hereby retract that sentiment. If the initials in P.T. Barnum stood for President Trump instead of Phineas Taylor I wouldn’t be any surer that I am now witnessing the Greatest Show on Earth.

I have contributed to several republican presidential candidates in my life and sometimes felt I was repaid with the results. But never had I imagined that my recompense for contributing to Trump would include laughter and amazement.

We are now surrounded by a show the likes of which Americans have never seen or imagined. Compared to the glacial pace of most new administrations, Trump is a veritable juggernaut. No sooner does he dismantle one Obama mess than he begins assaulting some other monstrosity. And throughout the proceedings the press and the leftist crazies run around in circles decrying some off-hand remark about crowds at the inauguration or pink hat wearing harpies. For the last two months, I have been hearing from happy right wingers that too much winning might actually be a medical condition with health risks associated. I don’t know about that but I can attest that you can hurt your ribs from too much laughing.

Honestly, I can’t remember being this happy since the beginning of the millennium. And I am aware that all good things will come to an end. But it’s very difficult for me to worry about that now. The giddiness that envelops me has started to effect my critical faculties and I find myself imagining all sorts of absurd possibilities. What if PT launched a government television show (on PBS?) in which citizens could call in and recommend a particularly odious government regulation to eliminate. Every week Americans could vote on line (like American Idol) and Trump could preside as the judge.

Or maybe he could amuse us like FDR did with fireside chats. But instead of pep talks he could regale us with which reporter or which celebrity had told the biggest lies about his administration. Maybe he could announce which American company had expanded employment. Possibly there could be a lottery for some of these jobs. Now that would sell.

Of course, this all sounds like a fever dream. But it’s hardly crazier than the POTUS saying that Mexico will pay for a wall to keep its citizens out of the US. And the best part about it is that he actually can do it. We’ve always heard that the president was the most powerful man in the world. And the strength of the American armed forces and up until recently of its industry made that true. But who ever imagined that the president could also be this much fun?

Anyway, eventually all this will come back to earth. But right now, it feels like anything is possible and things keeping going from good to better. Seeing those leftist ghouls shrieking and running in circles and Trump just telling them off is like the scene in the Lord of the Rings where Saruman discovers that his voice can no longer confuse or seduce his enemies and leads him to resort to insult until he is broken and dismissed by his new boss.

So here is my hat off to you PT. You truly have become the greatest show on earth and without any danger of exaggeration, the show is absolutely huuuuge!

I had to work on Inauguration Day. When I took a break, I had a chance to hear the speech. The words are good. Whoever wrote it earned his pay. There is no soaring rhetoric. Its power is in its relevance. I heard a few simple messages. The time for talk is over. The time for action is now. Buy American, hire American. America first.

I am no longer an overly enthusiastic or optimistic man. I do not assume that good intentions are enough to solve problems. But I note that just as Trump spoke during the campaign to the underlying blindness that republican leaders exhibited to the concerns of the people on the right so his speech here cleaves to his primary message. He declares his mission. Restore America for Americans.

Since December 22nd I have been in a veritable cocoon of self-imposed isolation from the world. I have left the grounds only three times and only once for more than an hour. I have spent this time, for the most part, reveling in the blissful sloth of a long holiday vacation. I have eaten delicious and unhealthy food until it is coming out of my ears. I sat around and watched so many holiday and “classic” movies that I’m tempted to nominate Bing Crosby for sainthood. And, of course I read so much political news that I feel sure that Trump will give me the nod for Veterans Administration head just on the merits.

But now it’s time to emerge from my cocoon. Tomorrow (shudder!), I will make the commute back to the office and reconnect with the real world. I’m not sure what to expect. I know my desk will be covered with paperwork (actual and virtual) and it will be a week before I’m dug out. In fact, the beginning of the year is a sprint of deliverables and meetings that will keep me hopping for weeks. Good, the status quo is restored.

But it’s not. The impending Trump presidency hangs over everyone like some alien spacecraft hovering over a large city in a sci fi thriller. Either it’s going to be Independence Day and the hellfire is about to rain down or it’s Star Trek IV and we’re all gonna be bored by some sermon on saving the whales. But either way it’s up there and until we know which it will be it’s hard to pretend that finishing that power point presentation on quarterly highlights is the most important thing in the world.

Of course, we have to wait another two and a half weeks until this Obama joker gets finished trashing the government and golfing on our nickel. I doubt there’s a less welcome player on the world stage than BO. Not even his own party can stand him. But he’s determined to cause the maximum annoyance until they pull the curtain down on this clown. Lord, give me patience.

But regardless if you’re Ann Coulter or Rosie O’Donnell there’s no denying that Donald Trump is the biggest story and none of us know for sure exactly what he’ll do. Now, I’m firmly ensconced on the right periphery of the political spectrum. I hope that Trump starts off his administration with a rapid reversal of all Obama’s executive orders and moves on to appointing Torquemada to the Supreme Court and Genghis Khan to the Justice Department. Then they could take on a joint project of structuring a RICO prosecution that includes BLM and George Soros. But only someone who has been asleep for the last thirty years can be unaware of how badly reality can deviate from even the most reasonable forecasts.

In early 1992 no one could have seen GHW Bush losing to Bill Clinton. During the Gulf War his poll numbers were stratospheric. Equally improbable was GW Bush’s failure to reckon with the American people’s dissatisfaction with his interminable wars in the Mid-East. These were political blunders that led to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama respectively. What they should teach us is that the president can’t have a tin political ear. If you pull the levers of power and they cause pain to the people who vote, you’d better be able to convince them that it’s for something they want. So, there’s the question, is Trump more like Reagan or more like a Bush.

I’m actually pretty certain that Donald Trump is closer to the former than the latter. And that gives me hope. I can see him striking deals with even some democrats that will satisfy voters and boost consumer confidence. Of course, the flip-side of this would be, Trump moving so far to the left that he would be indistinguishable from Hillary Clinton. This I find unlikely. Based on the people he’s putting in place, I think he wants to make some big changes. His picks for Education, Energy and the EPA are affronts to the liberals. I can see how he intends to lighten the ship in those departments. Also his pick for Defense is a signal that fun and games are over for the Army.

All in all, I find myself quite optimistic about 2017. The best part of having a character like Donald Trump in the White House is that his famously thin skin should allow for some truly memorable Twitter rants against some of my least favorite people. Can you imagine him disinviting the Kennedys and the Clintons from some state affair and broadcasting it on social media? And my favorite Trump fantasy is the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Can you imagine the panic? All those completely talentless television and radio personalities vying to remain on the only viable shows (Sesame Street and other kids shows) or trying to find spots at the already beleaguered operations of the other networks. The beg-athons would have to become epic in scope and basically unending. Probably for the right size donation you could have Ken Burns as your butler for a couple of years (and a tote bag).

Another way that Trump will probably excel past presidents is press conferences. I’m trying to imagine how it won’t be entertaining and I just can’t. I’m guessing that some of the reporters will challenge him from the start and I’m guessing he’ll ban them from the White House. And if he doesn’t like the articles the White House beat reporters write I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts trolling the comments sections of the NYT and WP. The best will be when he gives exclusive interviews to Ann Coulter and Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulis. The rest of the media will rail against this favoritism and decry the softball questions (as if the Obama deference never happened). It will be fantastic.

And finally, I look forward to the photo op where he sets the cornerstone for the wall. That’s when I’ll know we’ve arrived.